Thursday, June 27, 2013

I hope you're having a fun week! I'm headed out to run some errands but before I go I wanted to share with you my DT card for the new challenge over at A.R.T. (A Random Thursday Card Challenge). Today's theme is one of my favorites:

ANYTHING GOES

Today I tried my hand at a card that is a little more CAS than what I typically do. But, I think it turned out pretty and will keep this design in mind for the next time I need some fast Thank You cards for an order!

We are so thrilled over at A.R.T. with all the fabulous entries we've been having for our challenges since we are a brand new challenge blog! Thank you so much for joining in the fun and if you haven't had a chance to check it out yet ... today's the day ... especially since it is an ANYTHING GOES theme!

So, COME ON what are you waiting for?
AND ... I promise to come check out your creation and leave you some love!!

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Can you believe it's time for another challenge over at The Sisterhood of Crafters? Well it is and we are hoping you'll come join in the fun. Today Lisa B is your hostess and she has asked us to create with this theme in mind: STARS and STRIPES!

I must admit time got away from me and I was QUICK to create for this challenge. So, here's what I came up with . . .

Yes, I know, they are very similar and there's a good reason for that . . . they were both created by using design paper from the Webster's Pages 'Postcards from Paris & Sweet as Cherry Pie' petite papers!

On the 1st one the only thing I added was a strip of red satin ribbon to cover the seam from the strip of paper I cut from the edge of the second card and the sentiment on both cards were STICKERS that came on a sheet of address labels from 'Save The Children' where we send donations. I simply matted and/or distressed them before adding them to the front of my cards. (Hey, I didn't want to throw them away!!)

Other than the sentiment, the only other addition to this card are the stars which were punched using a Creative Memories star punch and were actually punched for a different project but never used! They were just 'laying there' so you know I had to pop them on the front of this card ... PERFECT!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Today I would like to share with you a birthday card I created (at the last minute of course) for our little neighbor girl Emily who turned 9 over the weekend. She (and her sister) are SO ADORABLE and if you follow my blog, you'll know who I'm talking about because I showcase these cute kids probably as much as I do my own grandchildren! LOL!

Here is sweet little Emily getting ready to blow out the candles on her 'very colorful' birthday cake! Emily is very much a 'girlie girl' and, she loves the color PINK (can you tell? LOL).

Here's the card I created for Miss 'M' (as we call her). Emily ALWAYS wears a flower in her hair ... hence the flower on the prima doll's headband!

My original plan was to just have the
Prima Doll as a stand up but then realized she was smaller than the Tim
Holtz easel stand I planned on using. SO ... I created a 'card' (5 1/2"
x 8 1/2") from chipboard and popped up the Prima doll on the front. I
wanted to create something special for Miss M that she could display in
her bedroom if she wanted to.

I found an entire 8 1/2 x 11 pack (25 sheets) of 40 PT chipboard at Michael's for a very reasonable price and it was perfect for this project. I stamped my #910143 Prima doll using Versafine Onyx ink first onto the chipboard then onto white cardstock and lastly Prima Sweet Fairy design paper. (Remember I was just going to make the doll ... not a card.) As it turned out, I used the remaining part of the chipboard to create my card base. I wasn't sure how difficult it was going to be to cut the doll from the chipboard ... but this weight of chipboard was very manageable!

After fussy cutting the dolls ... and the dresses, I decided on the more solid pink paper dress and used the other paper in the design of the card since they both came from the same paper pack.

Once done I thought ... oh no! where am I going to put her birthday money? (Like I said ... I was doing this 'last minute' ... actually started it 2 hours before the party was to begin!) So I just made a little pocket on the back side of the card using the same design paper as the dolls dress and tucked the money in there. Emily thought it was a clever surprise!

So here is Miss 'M' with her birthday card and sporting one of the many NEW hair flowers she received for her birthday. I'd say my card 'fit the occasion' quite well!

AND ... here is Miss 'M's big sister Miss Olivia! Olivia played a big part in planning M's party (see her party planning notebook) ... from the decorations, the games, the prizes ... she did a lot of fun things! GREAT JOB Miss 'O'!!

Monday, June 24, 2013

. . . and even though I don't have any weddings to attend this month, I do have a wedding card to share with you today!

Good Monday Morning friends!

The challenge over at Cheery Lynn Designs is "Wonderful Weddings". Since I didn't have a particular theme or color of any upcoming weddings, I thought it best to stick with white-on-white for today's creation.

I wish you could see the sparkle on this card ... I've added Diamond Stickles to all the butterfly wings as well as on the straight edge of the lacy borders. And, the ribbon is sheer with just a little shimmer to it. Here's a close up that hopefully you can see that detail . . .

I think this lacy border and the butterflies are some of my all time favorite Cheery Lynn Design dies.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

While taking a break from power washing the driveway/sidewalks yesterday I glanced out the kitchen window to our 'picnic' area only to realize our cherry tree was FULL of ripe & ready cherries. So, I grabbed my new iphone5 and walked up to grab a few photos (always impressed at photos people take on their phones and since I finally 'came up in time' and got my first smart phone I had to give it a try)!

These photos were taken while standing inside/under the tree (click on image to enlarge). Although it makes it a little difficult mowing under, I leave the branches low so I can easily hand pick these beauties! They are SO SWEET, and since I don't spray any pesticides on them, I love to just 'PICK & EAT' right off the tree. Being only 5' 2" tall ... that's not always an easy thing to do! LOL! Needless to say, all the beautiful berries on the top of the tree become food for the birds since I am NOT climbing up on a ladder to get them!

Like I said ... this tree is HUGE and I just love it!!

You can actually sit at the picnic table and pick cherries from it!

And there are cherries all the way to the top ... which isn't even in the picture!

Well I'd better get moving! I have a birthday card to get created for a party that starts in 2 hours! Yikes! Nothing like waiting until the last minute! LOL!

Have a fabulous day ... going into the 90s here in NE Ohio today ... think I'll be staying indoors!

Friday, June 21, 2013

Well it looks like another HOT day here in NE Ohio and I still have 2/3 of the driveway to finish power washing so I'm going to keep this short and get outdoors before it gets too hot and I get 'fried' (like I did yesterday)!

Anyone who knows me is aware that CAS is not my favorite design style but when you have a beautiful image like 'Holiday Bella Bride', you truly don't need a lot of layers & embellishments. I have added sparkle to her dress by using a Quickie Glue pen and DecoArt Glamour Dust. Here's a closeup so you can hopefully see it better.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

I must admit, when I started making cards I was drawn to any/all sketch challenges. That truly helped me get started on creating from my own mind and of late, I really haven't done many sketches other than those that pop into my head so this was great fun and actually a bit challenging! LOL! Here's what I came up with ... what do you think?

I just LOVE these PRIMA Doll Stamps and waited a long time to receive my very own collection of them (seems they are hard to come by). I was introduced to them by my friend Diane (Nellie's Nest) and while linking up with her & a few other crafting friends out in Indiana a few months back, she was kind enough to let me stamp a few of her images and also let me use some of her design paper to stamp again so I could PAPER PIECE this adorable lady when the time came I wanted to create with her. Paper piecing is a great way to use up those scraps of design paper you have laying around.

WELL ... today's the day!! (sorry I don't know the maker of the design paper ... Diane if you remember can you please leave me a comment?) My card is A-6 in size since these gals are pretty tall but I'm really happy with the outcome of this creation.

I sure hope you'll join in our challenge fun this week! So please pop on over to the A.R.T. Blog and be inspired by my team mates. See you there!

Before I share this week's DT creation with you, I wanted to make you aware of a few changes going on at Shelly's Images. Beginning in July, we will be switching to a MONTHLY challenge. Challenges will begin on the first Thursday of the month and end on the last day of the month. We will continue to have our Tutorial/Technique Tuesday (prior to the Thursday challenge) so you'll want to be sure to be watching for that! The team has some great ideas to share with you!

ALSO ... to make it even easier for you, we have posted all the upcoming challenge themes through the end of the year over on the sidebar of the challenge blog ... please take a peek! And, remember for each challenge there will be a PRIZE WINNER!

This will be the last time we will be
using a special "featured" image for our DT creations. From now on, the
team will be using a variety of Shelly's Images (that fit the theme) to
create inspiration samples for you!

What fun!

This young lady is doing what I wish I was doing right now ... walking the beach and Wishing Upon a Star (fish that is)! I can feel the ocean breezes already!

I so hope you'll come join in our challenge fun this week and PLEASE, be sure to pop over and check out the beautiful creations the team has created ... they are fabulous!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

This is my second post for today but I just couldn't help myself! LOL! After finally getting outside (it rains everytime I head that direction) and getting the lawn mowed, I came back into my cave to complete a card I've been trying to get finished all week!

What fun and I've had Jasmine colored and ready for a card for a while now. TODAY'S the day!! I just love coloring these adorable images from Sassy Studio's!

Jasmine Pinup Sassy is from the Make A Wish Collection and can be found at the store HERE.

After checking out some of the sketch challenges that came up today, I decided upon this fun sketch over at Seems A Little Sketchy.

I really need to get back to playing more with some of the sketches out there ... it's always fascinating how quickly a card can come together once you have a design in mind! Let's see if there are any other challenges I can share this fun creation with:

I'm here today to share with you a card that TRULY was a challenge for me! Yep! And when I tell you what caused me such grief, you're going to laugh!!

I'm trying to stay in the running to win the "eBosser" over at Cheery Lynn Designs this month and today's challenge made me GASP IN FEAR!! Want to know what had me on the edge of my seat? Are you ready ... this is really scarey stuff . . .

OMG ... this terrified me ...I have no clue what to do with kraft paper! It just looks like a paper sack from the grocery store to me and I can't seem to visualize anything 'pretty' using it! I know, I know ... that's crazy thinking so I just jumped in with both feet and here's what I came up with . . .

OMG ... I'm not sure what to think of this creation! On one hand I think it's pretty "okay" and on the other hand I'm thinking ... "this is so plain"! You know me ... I LOVE all those layers, flowers, flourishes, blah ... blah ... blah! But honestly, this is really starting to grow on me! What do you think?

You have to use at least one Cheery Lynn Designs product for the challenge ... GOT THAT COVERED!! EVERYTHING on this card is Cheery Lynn Designs with the exception of the faux stitching which I used a Sakura Gell Pen and the cardstock. I actually had to make a special trip to the craft store to purchase the Kraft paper! REALLY! I have $100's of dollars worth of paper in my crafting cave and NOT ONE sheet of Kraft paper! (well I do now!!)

I would also like to enter this card into the current challenge over at Joan's Gardens. The challenges at Joan's Gardens are always so much fun and sometimes kind of tricky ... but luckily, (while I'm still catching my breath), Joan has an easy one for us this week ...

ANYTHING GOES ... BUT you must use a product sold at Joan's Gardens!

AGAIN, NO PROBLEM! Other than the cardstock, everything was purchased from Joan's Gardens.

BEFORE I GO ... Remember I said I FINALLY made it out to the race track to watch my grandson race his junior dragster (never did see granddaughter race ... BAD NANA!) Well of course I forgot my camera so I attempted to grab a couple photos on my 'old' flip phone ...

Here's granddaughter Morgan sitting in the stands with me explaining the whole 'drag racing' thing! It was very exciting to see what all goes into this sport since my 'kids' are SO INVOLVED!

And here's a couple quick photos I grabbed before the light turned green and he was off like a flash!!

Things were moving so fast I never even got a photo of Jon & I together like I had hoped!

Next time for sure! I will be back!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you've enjoyed your visit!

Splitcoaststampers

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION

As of December 1, 2009, new FTC guidelines went into effect requiring bloggers to disclose any time they are compensated for endorsing or reviewing products or services. I serve on several design teams and participate in various social media sites where I post projects containing components I have receive free, have been compensated for or received perks in return for posts on this blog. While this may be the case, I would never endorse or mislead you, my readers, by stating an opinion about any product that I did not wholeheartedly believe. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have about any post or product I use in any of my projects. Now - back to your regularly scheduled blog post.